Fireflies
by sweetiepie08
Summary: One warm summer nights, when the sun was setting and a cool breeze blew through the air, one of Coco's favorite things to do, was to catch fireflies.


Héctor closed his eyes as the warm summer breeze brushed his face. The one-year-old girl in his arms stopped squirming. She glanced up at her father and imitated his expression… He opened his eyes and looked as his daughter, still feeling the breeze on her little face. "Does that feel good, Coco?"

The little girl had been fussy all day and Imelda was at her wit's end. Héctor took little Coco outside to give his wife a minute of peace. Dusk began to set, transforming the surrounding buildings and palm trees into silhouettes against the sapphire sky. He felt an excitement growing in his heart. When he was much younger, he spent many a night like this running around, chasing his childish bliss, and dreading the moment his mother called his name out the kitchen window. Not long ago, about this time, he'd be heading out for a night on the town with Ernesto or be on a date with Imelda noticing how the setting sun made her eyes somehow even more beautiful. Things were much different now.

Coco squirmed in his arms again, momentary fascination with the wind now over. "Alright, alright," he said, setting her down on the small porch floor. "Stay close to me." She looked up at him and he thought he saw some understanding in her eyes. He wasn't sure she grasped the concept of following instructions yet. She knew a few words. She knew "mamá" and "papá" of course. She used "Ti-Osk" and "Ti-Flip" for Imelda's brothers, and "Nesst" for Ernesto. She could say "sí" and "no" and "es mía." She also learned the names of a few of her favorite toys. Héctor was careful to poignantly say the names of everything she took an interest in. Every time she learned a new word, he proclaimed her a genius.

Coco toddled around on the porch and Héctor moved to block the steps, which she couldn't manage well enough for his comfort. A tiny light flashed in front of her face and she froze in her tracks. She looked around for the source of the light and another one flashed by ear. "Coco did you see that?" Héctor gasped, making sure his voice matched the wonder on his daughter's face. "Una luciérnaga. They come out to play when it gets dark."

Coco let out a garble of vowels in an attempt to repeat the name. Héctor laughed. "Close enough." Another one flashed in Coco's peripheral and she turned to follow it. Héctor crouched down to see the world from her eye-level. "Let's see if we can catch one," he whispered. His imagination took off and soon, he and his daughter were on a firefly safari.

They watched and waited for the fireflies to show themselves. Héctor showed his daughter how to softly approach their prey and swiftly, but gently capture their target. A light flashed in front of his face and he clasped his hands around the air. It flashed again, a little farther away this time, and a peak in his hands revealed that he'd missed.

A light flashed in front of Coco. She shot out her hands and clapped them together. The light flashed again over her head and Héctor breathed a sigh of relief. The lucky creature managed avoid being splattered all over her tiny palms. "Careful, m'ija. You don't want to squash them. Like this." Another light flashed and he clasped his hands over it. He took a quick peak. Success! "Want to see?" He knelt down and held his hands up to Coco's eyes. She looked in and made an impressed "Oooh" sound as she watched the flashing in her Papá's palms.

The front door opened and light from the living room flooded the porch. Imelda stepped out and let the door close behind her. "What are you two up to?"

"Mamá, mamá!" Coco squealed pointing excitedly at Hector's closed hands.

"Oh, did your Papá catch something?"

Héctor held out his hands and Imelda looked in. "Oh, how pretty," she said, stroking her daughter's hair.

"Es mia," Coco declared, pointing at her father's closed hands.

"No, Coco. We can't keep him," Héctor corrected. His daughter screwed up her little face looking personally offended. Héctor let out a soft chuckle and went on. "We have to let him go. He has to go home to his little bug friends and his little bug family."

Coco put her tiny fist to her mouth and squinted her eyes as if trying to solve a complicated puzzle. "Go adios?" she finally asked after her deliberation.

Ah, she understood. His daughter really was a genius. "Si, we have to say adios. Are you ready?" Coco put on her best pouty face but nodded. "Okay, here we go." Héctor opened his hands. The little creature hesitated, then took off blinking into the night.

"Adios bug," Coco called as the firefly flew away.

Héctor stroked her hair and smiled at the new word she learned. _My baby girl is a genius._ "Adios bug."

[-]

"Mamá, Mamá, look!" Coco called from the courtyard.

"What is it, m'ija?" Imelda called back from the workshop. Though she would normally go see what her eight year old daughter came up with, she had to keep working. The order was due tomorrow and she couldn't afford to take breaks.

"Luciérnagas, Mamá!"

Imelda let out a light laugh. "Oh, those."

"Mamá, I'm catching them!"

Imelda listened as her daughter laughed and jumped around outside. She smiled to herself. Moments like these made it all worth it. Moments that reminded her that she did it. She gave her daughter the best life she possibly could. Coco could live the carefree life a child should and her Mamá would always make sure they had food on the table and a roof over their heads.

She heard a small crash come from the courtyard. She froze and held her breath for just a second before she heard Coco say, "I'm okay," then go back to playing.

Imelda sighed and turned back to her work. "One of you two go out and watch her," she said to her brothers. In their usual fashion, they both got up and went out together.

Soon, she heard the sounds of her brothers playing too and helping Coco devise a plan to catch the fireflies more efficiently. She was glad Coco had them and she was glad to have them too. It meant she wasn't completely on her own when a _certain someone_ never came back from his trip. A burst of laughter sounded from outside, keeping her from sinking into bitterness. _Who needs music when you have this?_

"Oh you caught one, Querida! Brilliant!" Filipe exclaimed.

"You'll need a jar to keep your new friend in," Oscar added.

"No, Tio Oscar. We have to let him go."

Imelda stopped. She heard that before.

"He has to go home to his little bug friends and his little bug family."

Her breath caught in her throat. Héctor used to say that. She remembered warm nights when Héctor would take Coco outside to chase the fireflies. Every time they caught one, they'd say good bye and let it go. She asked him once while he always said that. He told her about a time when he was a kid. He caught the bug, put them in a jar, and woke up to find them dead the next morning. He explained that he didn't want Coco to carry the weight of firefly murder on her conscience.

She returned to her work, desperate to distract her mind from him. If she must remember him, she preferred to remember the times they fought over his silly dreams. At least those made sense. At least it hinted at a reason why. The tender moments became bitter now. They created too much cognitive dissonance to be looked on fondly. How could the man from her memories leave his little girl behind?

A burst of laughter from outside broke her through her thoughts. _The why doesn't matter,_ she told herself for the hundredth time. The fact was that he left. She pulled herself up, she built her business, and she gave her daughter a comfortable life. She had her family to take care of, and they were what really mattered.

[-]

"Papá, are there luciérnagas here?" Coco asked her father one evening as they sat in the courtyard together.

"Eh?" Héctor looked up from his song book to see his daughter looking wistfully at the setting sun.

"Luciernagas," Coco repeated. "Are there any here?"

"Luciernagas?" Héctor had to stop and think. He hadn't really noticed before, but there didn't seem to be any insects of any kind in the Land of the Dead. There were allebrijes galore, but no bugs. "I'm sorry. I don't think there are."

"Oh," Coco sighed, looking back at the sky. "I thought we could catch some like we used to."

Héctor dropped his pen. Coco wanted to do something with him? She'd only been in the Land of the dead for a few weeks at this point. While their reunion had been tearful and joyous, their interactions after that were nice, but awkward. Coco didn't seem to hate him as he feared. They spent time together by sitting quietly in the courtyard or talking at the dinner table. She didn't avoid him and he didn't avoid her. The problem was that they didn't know how to relate to each other anymore.

The last time they saw each other, Coco was barely more than a toddler and Héctor was her sweet, musical Papá. That was about ninety years ago. Coco was an adult now who lived a long and full life. Hector's life was cut tragically short and left him in perpetual youth. Though she would always be his little girl in his mind, the fact remained that Coco lived a great deal more life than he did.

He couldn't help but feel a touch of envy when he watched the easy way that Coco interacted with her mother. The two were blessed with decades more time together than he had. Imelda got to watch Coco grow up into an adult and the two could share experiences that Héctor never could. For him, it was just another bitter addition to the list of things Ernesto took from him.

Now, he was granted an opportunity to do something for her, something that she wanted. This could open the door to bonding with her and becoming as close as they were when she was a little girl. He wasn't going to let this chance pass him by. If his little girl wanted to chase fireflies, then he was going to make it happen.

"Disculpe, m'ija," he said, getting up from the courtyard table. "I'll be back in a minute."

[-]

"Fireflies?"

Héctor nodded eagerly. "Sí, can you do it?" He ventured down into his twin brother-in-laws' basement "laboratory" to make this request.

Oscar and Filipe swiveled their chairs and glanced at each other, both with one eyebrow raised. "Do you mean real fireflies?" Filipe asked, turning back to Hector.

"Maybe not real fireflies, but something that can act like them. Please, it's for Coco."

Their skeptical looks melted when he mentioned their favorite niece. "She just wants to catch them, right?" Oscar asked.

"Yes."

"So, the just need to float and glow?"

Héctor nodded again.

The brothers turned back to each other. "Do you think, maybe…"

"Yes, that's what I was thinking."

"But how do we make them glow?"

"We could break open some…"

"Yes, or we could use…"

"But that would only work if we…"

"So what? We've already got one."

Héctor waited, rubbing his arm as the twins debated. Finally, they turned back to him. "We'll need some time to experiment," Oscar said.

"But it's possible," added Filipe.

Hector's face lit up. "So, you'll do it?"

The brothers looked back at Héctor with matching smiles. "Anything for Coco," Oscar said.

"Now, if you'll excuse us…"

"We want to get started."

"We'll keep you updated on our progress."

"Gracias!" Héctor said, surprising them each with a hug. "Coco'll love it. Let me know if you need any help."

"We will," the brothers said in unison before swiveling their chairs back toward their desk. Héctor took this as his que to leave and practically bounced up the stairs, giddy over the surprise he'd have for his daughter.

[-]

All the next day, Oscar and Filipe smuggled bags of supplies in and out of the shop, not letting anyone see. Coco was amused by this. It reminded her of when she was a girl and her uncles were cooking up a new experiment. Imelda was wary for the same reasons.

It surprised the whole house when Héctor was the only one allowed to see. As well as Héctor and the brothers got along, he was the only one outright banned from participating in their experiments. Imelda cited "past incidents" as the reason for the ban. It was the same reason he wasn't allowed to touch some of the more complicated machines and sharper tools in the workshop. She wasn't sure if one could die in an accident in the Land of the Dead, but she wasn't about to find out. Though, whatever this experiment was, apparently the twins deemed it Héctor safe.

Whatever happened down in the twins' laboratory was apparently a success. The three of them came up grinning and whispering about a surprise. When asked what was going on, the three of them refused to give any details, but claimed that all would be revealed soon.

The next evening, after dinner, the three of them rushed out to the courtyard, asking everyone to stay inside until the surprise was ready. The Riveras buzzed about what it could be and why Héctor was involved. Coco had her secret suspicions but said nothing.

Finally, her Papá came in, saying it was ready and that Coco should be the first to see. He covered her eyes as she stepped out onto the courtyard. Once they were outside, he removed his hands to reveal dozens of glowing bubbles floating in the air.

"You said you wanted to catch fireflies, m'ija," Héctor said, gesturing to the magical scene.

Coco reached out and poked one of the bubbles. It popped, splashing a glowing liquid on her hands.

"We tried a few formulas to make the bubbles glow," Oscar said.

"Our original idea of breaking open glow sticks didn't work like we expected," Filipe added.

"So, we tried highlighters."

"It worked a lot better, but we still needed to rig up black lights."

"And mix up enough formula to put in the bubble machine."

"It's kind of messy, but as long as we hose down when we're done, it should be fine."

"What do you think?" Héctor asked, leading his daughter out future onto the courtyard.

"Papá, you did this for me?" she asked, reaching for another glowing orb.

"Well, I had the idea…" Héctor said, rubbing the back of his neck, "But Oscar and Filipe made it work."

"Do they have to get home to their little bubble friends and their little bubble family?" She asked with a smirk.

Héctor laughed. "No, I don't think so."

The other Riveras trickled out onto the courtyard, curious about the strange lights floating outside the window.

"What is this?" Imelda asked. She didn't sound displeased, not even when she saw the bubbles pop and make a glowing mess where they landed.

"Luciérnagas, Mamá." Coco grabbed Julio's hand and pulled him out to where the bubbles were the thickest. "Come on, mi amor. Let's catch some."

The rest of the family followed them out. Soon, they were all laughing and popping bubbles regardless of the mess. Even Victoria would smile as she watched the neon orbs burst at her touch. Only Héctor hung back, content to watch the family, _his_ family, enjoy themselves. Imelda slid up next to him and put her arm around him. He hugged her to his side and gave her a peck on the cheek. They didn't exchange words. They didn't need to. Their family was together and happy and that was all that mattered.


End file.
